Andy Carroll was pants yesterday. He barely won a header, did nothing on the ground and yet remained on the pitch until 5 minutes before the end. Cards on table.I am a fan of Carroll.On his day he is unplayable. He is normally great in the air, has a good first touch and is a much better goalscorer than he is given credit for. However, since he has come back into the team our style of play has reverted back, in some part, to the style of last season. More balls are being humped up front instead of being played on the ground.
When I was driving home to Norfolk yesterday evening I wondered to myself if the result against WBA might have been different if Valencia and Sakho had played together, as I said I hoped they would. We will never know. So is Sakho/Carroll a better partnership than Valencia/Sakho? Well let’s look at the evidence.
So far this season Sakho and Valencia have started 8 games together, 7 in the league. Andy Carroll has started 9 games and played with four different strike partners – Cole, Zarate, Sakho and Valencia.
When Sakho & Valencia played together we lost only one game – at Old Trafford. In the 7 league games they partnered each other we procured 14 points – 2 points per game. In the 9 games Andy Carroll has played in we have also got points, at an average of 1.55 points per game.
Sakho is now off to the African Cup of Nations until early February, so we are now likely to see a Carroll/Valencia partnership establish itself. They’ve played twice together, against Chelsea and Swansea, so it’s hard to draw many conclusions from those games. Against Swansea, Carroll was on fire. Let’s hope the same thing happens on Tuesday against Everton and then Saturday at Swansea.
Meanwhile, we wish Diafra Sakho the best of luck in Morrocco and beg him to stay away from Sengalese needles!
PS The Everton Predictor League is now open.